NYC Fall Restaurant and Bar Preview: 2013 Openings That Won't Be Closed By Next Spring

In New York, fall and winter are the busiest seasons in restaurants; as the weather cools, city dwellers love to hunch over a hot plate, and eat the chills away in warm settings awash with flattering light. Gone are the days of sidewalk and patio dining, and even though we make a habit of bitching about the cold weather, indoor dining is a welcome change.

Fall is also a season of new openings and thus an annual media feeding frenzy of roundups announcing the most anticipated new restaurants—for the most comprehensive intel on what’s on the horizon in the next few months, check out Time Out New York’s epic guide.

Half of the new places everyone’s gushing about probably won’t survive their first sleepy New York summer, but we’re willing to bet on which ones will.

Click through the gallery to find out which fall openings we think actually have staying power.

Golden Cadillac

Neighborhood: East Village
Address and phone: 13 First Ave (no phone yet)
Website: Not yet
Status: October, according to the New York Times
The original Painkiller on the Lower East Side was one of those special New York nightspots that doesn't come around too often—a gritty reimagining of a tiki bar that doled strong medicine in the form of Scorpion Bowls and other classic island beverages. The bar wasn't fancy, but it was reliable for a great time exactly when you needed it, and it was a big loss when it closed earlier this summer. But fear not—Giuseppe Gonzalez, one of the masterminds behind Painkiller, is back in action.
According to paperwork filed with Manhattan's Community Board three, Gonzalez teamed up with chef Francis Derby (of wd~50, Momofuku, and Gilt) to open new cocktail bar named Golden Cadillac about six blocks from the old Painkiller space. The proposed menu included bites like bacon-wrapped lamb chops, shiitake asparagus potato knishes, a Pat LaFrieda burger, and brick chicken. We were expecting great things, but about six months ago, Eater reported Derby was no longer involved with the project. Now, it's looking more like a classic cocktail bar—with a twist. Cocktail historian Gregory Boehm (Cocktail Kingdom), and word is he and Gonzalez will be paying homage to '80s New York while putting a new spin on under-appreciated drinks like the Long Island Iced Tea and the Cosmo. If anyone can pull it off, it's Gonzalez.

Red Farm UWS

Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Address and phone: 2170 Broadway (no phone yet)
Website:RedFarmNYC.comStatus: Delayed indefinitely, DNAinfo reported last week
For many Upper West Siders, who famously suffer from a dearth of decent dining options, the much anticipated UWS location of Ed Schoenfeld and Joe Ng's haute Chinese hot spot can't come soon enough. It's Red Farm, so expect dumplings stuffed with savory meats, silken soups, and stellar meat and noodle dishes, often with a New York twist (see: pastrami egg rolls). The opening menu is reportedly a "greatest hits" collection of Red Farm's finest offerings. If it ever opens, we're willing to bet it'll be here to stay—after all, providing upgraded Chinese delivery to the UWS is a pretty sound business plan.

Toro

Neighborhood: Chelsea
Address and phone: 85 10th Ave (212-691-2360)
Website:Toro-NYC.comStatus: Soon. Very soon. Possibly late September.
Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette opened Toro in Boston in 2005 and the restaurant has been a Beantown favorite ever since. Now, they're bringing their Barcelona-inspired tapas to Chelsea. Situated next to star-powered restaurants like Colicchio & Sons and Del Posto, and a stone's throw from several other Spanish restaurants, it'll have it's work cut out for it—especially since NYC has a way of chewing up out-of-town chefs. But if their track record is any indication, Oringer and Bissonnette's grub should have no trouble putting butts in seats. Expect dishes like patatas bravas, tortilla espanola, roasted pork neck with lentils and salsa verde, and jamón for days.

All'Onda

Neighborhood: Union Square
Address and phone: 22 East 13th St (no phone yet)
Website: Not yet
Status: From the looks of it, late fall
After suffering a bitter breakup with Michael White and Ahmass Fakahany at Altamarea group in 2010-2011, Chris Cannon abruptly shuttered his well-regarded Midtown Italian spots Alto and Convivio on the same day with no warning, auctioned off their wine collections, and retreated to New Jersey. This fall, Cannon is staging a long-awaited comeback. All'Onda, a new Northern Italian restaurant with former Ai Fiori chef Chris Jaeckle helming the kitchen, was originally scheduled a year ago. Multiple delays later, it's now set to open at the end of fall. Expect lots of risottos, buttery dishes with rosemary and sage, and plenty of fine prosecco.

Ivan Ramen

Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Address and phone: 25 Clinton St (no phone yet)
Website:IvanRamen.comStatus: Opening later this fall; possibly in November
In June, New York native/Tokyo noodle king Ivan Orkin served a six-course tasting menu at Brooklyn Kitchen. First-adopters talked gushingly of the meals, which seemed to be a preview of what's to come at Ivan Ramen, Orkin's first American outpost and one of the season's most exciting openings given Orkin's success in Japan—in the world of ramen, if you can make it in Tokyo, you can make it anywhere And, while New York has been in the grips of a noodle love affair for several years now, it's been a while since a new ramen joint opened that actually stood up to the hype.

Beast of Bourbon

Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Address and phone: 710 Myrtle Ave (718-123-4567)
Website:BeastOfBourbonBK.comStatus: Open
NYC has been working hard to stake out its reputation as a bonafide BBQ town all years, and the trend looks like it's far from over—this week, three new smoke joints opened in Brooklyn. Despite the bro-y name, we're most excited about Beast of Bourbon, whose 6,000-square-foot space boasts two bars, a pool table, live music, and a full menu of dry-rubbed delights including smoked wings, brisket, and ribs. The huge selection of brown spirits, frozen whiskey drinks, and 42 craft beers on tap should help give it some staying as well. Plus, owner Sureshan Pather's Black Swan, which opened in 2010 nearby, is a mob scene every weekend; the dude clearly knows what the neighborhood wants.

Danny Bowien's Possibly Mexican Restaurant

Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Address and phone: 172 Orchard St (no phone yet)
Website: Not yet
Status: No one knows. Bowien and team have been steadfastly tight-lipped.
In July, the New York Post reported that Bowien was opening a "Mexican Cantina and Tequila Bar," a rumor Bowien quickly squashed via Twitter. But aside from the fact that the James Beard Rising Star Chef is most definitely not opening a tequila bar, details are scarce on the new project. But if it's anywhere near as good as the perpetually packed Mission Chinese, we're excited to check it out—and given the buzz it's already received, so is everyone else. We can only sit tight and pray for mapo tofu nachos.

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